Islamic State mass murderer Omar Mateen, responsible for killing dozens at the Orlando gay nightclub Pulse in June, had repeatedly told coworkers he was related to an assortment of jihadis, from the Boston Marathon bombers to the Fort Hood killer Nidal Hassan, newly released documents show.
The documents, released in response to a Judicial Watch inquiry, show the nature of the 2013 FBI probe into Mateen, then a contractor from the security firm G4S. The FBI concluded that Mateen appeared to be mentally stable and “NOT a terrorist.”
The report concludes a personal statement from Mateen, where he admits to claiming that he was a “first cousin” of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the brothers behind the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, and a relative of Nidal Hassan, who killed 13 soldiers while shouting “allahu akbar” in 2009. The Obama administration has branded Hassan’s jihad attack an instance of “workplace violence.”
Mateen also admitted to telling coworkers, “I know Obama is a Muslim.”
“The boasting I did it just to satisfy the gang of coworkers who ganged up against me. There is no fact to it. I’m 1000% pure American,” Mateen’s FBI statement reads.
Mateen’s statement accuses his coworkers of repeatedly referring to him as “towel head” and suggesting he eat pork. No colleagues of Mateen’s have come forward to corroborate his criticisms. Shortly after the Pulse nightclub massacre, however, one former colleague told the Los Angeles Times Mateen would repeatedly discuss his desire to kill. “I complained multiple times that he was dangerous, that he didn’t like blacks, women, lesbians and Jews,” Daniel Gilroy said, noting Mateen had once said he “could kill all black people.”
“We do NOT believe he is a terrorist,” the FBI report concludes, despite his “stupid terrorist talk,” and agents did not believe he “would go postal or anything like that.” G4S nonetheless ultimately reassigned him, taking him out of a security job at a courthouse.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton issued a statement following the document dump, asserting that the FBI “blew it” in their investigation of Mateen in 2013. “The agency let Mateen off the hook even though he threatened his co-worker and tried to lie to the FBI agents questioning him about terrorist ties. No wonder the FBI reportedly tried to stop Florida law enforcement from responding to freedom of information requests about the Orlando massacre,” he said.
Mateen killed 49 people in a shooting spree at Pulse nightclub on June 12. While early reports citing alleged witnesses claimed Mateen had chosen the LGBT establishment because he himself was gay, the FBI has debunked these allegations. “So far, they have found no photographs, no text messages, no smartphone apps, no gay pornography and no cell-tower location data to suggest that Mateen — who was twice married to women and had a young son — conducted a secret gay life, the officials said,” the Los Angeles Times reported last month, citing multiple FBI reports.
Last week, FBI officials confirmed that no evidence has surfaced that Mateen is gay and that further review of his online footprint uncovered evidence that he may have been conducting an extramarital affair with a woman.
Mateen pledged allegiance to Islamic State caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a 911 call during the shooting at Pulse.
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